On 16 August 2025, a long holiday combining India’s Independence Day and Sri Krishna Janmashtami brought a surge of pilgrims to Tirumala. The Times of India reported that waiting for darshan of Lord Venkateswara approached 24 hours and queues extended three to four kilometres. The lines were not confined to worship. Pilgrims also waited for accommodation, tonsure—the shaving of hair offered in devotion—and free meals at the temple administration’s canteen. Both Q-complexes were full, and officials instructed staff to maintain supplies of food, water and refreshments to people outside and inside. Seen alone, a queue for head-shaving may appear unusual. At Tirumala it formed one part of an integrated pilgrimage route linking arrival, lodging, offering, worship and food. The kilometres-long line recorded congestion across an entire sacred system, not a delay at a single counter.